Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck has died near Mount Everest. The body of the 40-year-old ace mountaineer was found close to Camp 1 on the nearby Nuptse Face, where he was acclimatising for one of the most incredible mountaineering projects in the Himalaya: the Everest - Lhotse traverse.

On Wednesday 17 August Switzerland’s Ueli Steck, one of the most talented mountaineers in the world, will take to the stage at Passione Verticale, the classic summer festival the town of Courmayeur dedicates every year to alpinism and the mountains. The evening begins at 21:15 and will be hosted by Vinicio Stefanello of planetmountain.com.

The report of Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck who on 18 May 2012 reached the summit of Everest along with Tenji Sherpa. We have published the account in its entirety as this provides insight into the crowds present during this pre-monsoon season, the job of the Sherpa and what it means to climb the world's highest mountain without the use of supplementary oxygen. Even for an absolute ace alpinist such as Ueli Steck.